SCF: Florida Panthers vs Edmonton Oilers (Series Tied 3-3) Hold onto your butts, Game 7, Monday 8/24 @ 8pm ET !

[Leonardo87]

**Stanley Cup Final**
Florida Panthers vs Edmonton Oilers

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[Mike C]

Good jiving it up with you guys. 4 more days of pre series tomfoolery to come. Gotta hit the hay for now

 

[TheNumber4]

Good jiving it up with you guys. 4 more days of pre series tomfoolery to come. Gotta hit the hay for now

Have a good one

 

[ManofSteel55]

Florida will probably dismantle the Oilers with that defense and goaltending. But I hope not and hope the oilers win in six.

Edmonton's defensive play has been stellar this year. Skinner is streaky but has been solid since his 2 game issue against Vancouver. Obviously Florida has the better goalie, but when Skinner is on, he's very good too.

The Oilers special teams are both elite right now. If the referees call any penalties on the most penalized team in the league, it will be a benefit to them for sure, and should counter any edge in physicality Florida has.

Tkachuk probably is going to have PTSD lining up against Edmonton again.

 

[TheNumber4]

We will be hitting them regardless, but that and taking runs are two seperate things no doubt

Maybe Tkachuk can bounce off Drai after tickling him again:

 

[Chaos2k7]

Maybe Tkachuk can bounce off Drai after tickling him again:

Seems like Chucky might be under your skin.

That would be a trade off worth taking for Chucky. Drai is a big boy and gamebreaker, need those guys to have their heads on a swivel.

 

[hangman005]

Good jiving it up with you guys. 4 more days of pre series tomfoolery to come. Gotta hit the hay for now

What did the hay ever do to you?

 

[TheNumber4]

Seems like Chucky might be under your skin.

That would be a trade off worth taking for Chucky. Drai is a big boy and gamebreaker, need those guys to have their heads on a swivel.

Hey if I’m talking Cats it’s gonna be the dudes i know best. Would be a good trade off if he didn’t just bounce off of him.

 

[Sergei Shirokov]

It will be a good series. Lots of contrast. Oilers top line and Bouchard are elite. Fla has great depth and an elite goalie. Skinner is inconsistent but they've insulated him well. Fla won't deviate from its system. Oilers there for 1st time. Fla motivated after last year.

In the end, I think Fla can wear down and frustrate Oilers. Bob is a difference maker. Having home ice is big

That’s going to be a huge factor, for sure.

Florida will feel confident, Oilers stepping into a new realm, but its the SCF I'm sure Connor & Leon will be as motivated as anyone on Florida.

I'll keep saying it endlessly; the key for Florida will be not getting shutout on the PP like EDM was able to do to LA & Dallas. EDM has the best special teams units in the playoffs, Florida's PK is second but you know the Oilers will score some PP goals. If the Panthers can't match them or make it close they are going to have trouble.

5v5 they are better but EDM defends alot better than they have in the past & they seem to have built up their confidence from game 6 against VAN on. So they can hold the fort 5v5 when they have too as we saw in the last game 6.

 

[Hank Plank]

Now I want Tkachuk to win MVP even more.

 

[iCanada]

I think I've secured tickets to game 6 in Edmonton so I'm going with the Oilers in 6.

Huh that's interesting. My STH email from this morning says they're on sale on Wednesday.

So. Maybe double check that, and call your credit card company.

 

[Seanaconda]

I’m not saying go run after him.
I’m only talking about that one specific play, instead of fishing for puck the D could’ve just played the body. He was right there, could’ve disrupted the last move before he buried it.

Oilers are going to come at you over and over players will make mistakes.

 

[Spawn]

5v5 they are better but EDM defends alot better than they have in the past & they seem to have built up their confidence from game 6 against VAN on. So they can hold the fort 5v5 when they have too as we saw in the last game 6.

Is Florida actually better than Edmonton at 5v5? Or have they just had the luxury of matching up against a bunch of mid 5v5 teams in these playoffs?

Edmonton (highest xGF% in the league at 5v5 this season) has matched up against Dallas (3rd), LA (4th) and Vancouver (8th).

Conversely, Florida (5th) has matched up against Boston (18th), Tampa Bay (21st) and NYR (22nd).

Edmonton is a completely different beast compared to anyone Florida has faced so far. Elite at 5v5, elite on the PP and elite on the PK. Their main weakness has been goaltending. That might be the Achilles heal that sinks them. But right now Skinner is playing well, which he has shown he can do in stretches. If he provides even average goaltending the rest of the way I like the Oilers chances regardless of if the series is decided via special teams or at ES.

 

[TheNumber4]

I was told Bennet was different these days. I still see the same over shooting hope shooter I saw in Calgary with the same sneaky dirty attitude. Looks a bit thicker though I guess. Meh, he’s okay I guess, credit due.

 

[Sergei Shirokov]

Top 10 players in the cup final: (list yours)

1. McDavid
2. Draisaitl
3. Barkov
4. Reinhart
5. Tkachuk
6. Forsling
7. Ekholm
8. Hyman
9. Bobrovsky
10. Bouchard/Verhaeghe

 

[HockeyWooot]

Yep, totally legit, Oilers luckiest team AINEC.

Only person sleeping on a team is you, I never slept on the cats, think theyre a great team and expect the series to go at least 6.

It depends, if RNH came in as 2c, driving his own line and put up 1.4ppg, then I would say he did too. The difference would be marginal enough that the Oilers are given more than enough to win. Outside of game 1, Silovs put up an 0.892 against the best offensive team in the NHL that routinely put the boots to the team in front of him, that's only 0.011 behind Oet. Silovs didn't put a ceiling on the Canucks ability to generate more than 20 shots per game, and routine take periods off going down multiple goals.

Games 1, 2, 5, 7 he played from really bad to not well. Game 1 was the worst but he won anyways so Demko changes nothing there.
Game 3 and 4 he played good to great and his team let him down in game 4.
Game 7 you'd get better stuff out of Demko but also I don't think the Oilers take their foot off the gas at shots 22-6 if they aren't up 3-0.

As much as they wanted to play the same way with a next man up mentality, I don’t see the team playing the exact same way as they do in front of Demko. How could they?

Your decision making and risk management is ultimately not going to be the same with a 23 year old third stringer in night from the minors, opposed to your Vezina calibre backbone of the team.

Silovs was fantastic but did let softies in every 1 to 2 games, again completely expected from such a player while he did make some unreal saves way above his calibre which of course was not expected.

 

[Sergei Shirokov]

Is Florida actually better than Edmonton at 5v5? Or have they just had the luxury of matching up against a bunch of mid 5v5 teams in these playoffs?

Edmonton (highest xGF% in the league at 5v5 this season) has matched up against Dallas (3rd), LA (4th) and Vancouver (8th).

Conversely, Florida (5th) has matched up against Boston (18th), Tampa Bay (21st) and NYR (22nd).

Edmonton is a completely different beast compared to anyone Florida has faced so far. Elite at 5v5, elite on the PP and elite on the PK. Their main weakness has been goaltending. That might be the Achilles heal that sinks them. But right now Skinner is playing well, which he has shown he can do in stretches. If he provides even average goaltending the rest of the way I like the Oilers chances regardless of if the series is decided via special teams or at ES.

Just watching them in the playoffs I believe so. Hard to believe a team (NYR) wins the presidents trophy as a bottom 3rd 5v5 team in the league. Carolina was ahead of them on both special teams units (and I assume this stat) yet didn't win the presidents trophy. Go figure.

EDM has improved defensively alot at 5v5, I think they have times of dominance (as you would expect with McDrai), and other times where the weak parts in their lineup aren't great, but ultimately Florida has more depth & plays the hardest of anyone in the playoffs. I think I would give them the 5v5 advantage & EDM the special teams advantage going in.

If Florida evens, surpasses, or comes close enough to match EDM's special teams I like their chances, if EDM continues to blow the doors off their opponent again in the final I think they win it.

 

[Sergei Shirokov]

Top 10 players in the cup final: (list yours)

1. McDavid
2. Draisaitl
3. Barkov
4. Reinhart
5. Tkachuk
6. Forsling
7. Ekholm
8. Hyman
9. Bobrovsky
10. Bouchard/Verhaeghe

@Spawn

Whats your list? Where did I get it wrong?

 

[bert]

It's annoying. They are OUR Oilers. Then the media asks the question to our stars. Like what are they supposed to say? Certainly not what I am about to....

Just because our country lacks a true identity and "you" suddenly found something to rally behind does not make it "your" team.

Every other opportunity previous to ridicule or criticize "you" took and now because of some sort of anti-American bullshit need for some patriotism you decided to hitch a bandwagon to our horse? It's f***ing embarrassing.

We endured the decade of darkness, the humiliation of 4 first overalls (that continues today), we were so desperate for change we held draft parties, found bullshit acronyms out players names (anyone remember HOPE.....Hall, Omark, Paajarvi, Eberle).

But now you think you can hitch up and call it your team because it gives you some sort of pride? f*** that. Where were "you people" before?

Cheer for the Oilers if you must....but they will always be OUR team. NOT Canada's.

Lol OK big guy. You're special. 'Endure'

 

[Fishy McScales]

Well in 1983 Gretzky had never won a Cup either, but by then he had already shattered long-standing NHL records and being called the Great One with some already predicting he would become the GOAT. He was certainly condsidered the best player in the League by that point.

The poster made it sound like a current "best player in the League" had never failed to win the Cup if his team appeared in the Finals and, therefore, there's some sort of McDestiny at work that ensures an Oiler victory. He's wrong. Gretzky and his Oilers failed their 1st time around in '83.

Yeah I actually remember referencing that when the Oilers got swept by the Avs thinking it could be their "83 lesson" when the got trounced by the Islanders.

Then they got taken out by Vegas, but hopefully it just skipped a year. The' 84 Oilers nearly did the same when they needed 7 games against Calgary and were even trailing in that game.

 

[Fishy McScales]

Top 10 players in the cup final: (list yours)

1. McDavid
2. Draisaitl
3. Barkov
4. Reinhart
5. Tkachuk
6. Forsling
7. Ekholm
8. Hyman
9. Bobrovsky
10. Bouchard/Verhaeghe

I wonder how long these not-so-subtle digs at Bouchard are gonna continue.

He's making a strong case that he's been the best player on the Oilers four rounds into the playoffs and you are debating whether he or Carter Verhaeghe even belongs in the top 10?

I'm not even gonna compare Bouchard and Forsling (though you're clearly fishing for a response on that), but the fact you have him and Ekholm comfortably in over Bouch is ridiculous. Hyman is not better than Bouch either.

I'm tempted to report this post for how tiring it is to still read this kind of crap from Canucks fans in every single Oilers thread. You lost, get over it.

 

[Fishy McScales]

Not the GOAT but Brad Park says "Don't forget about me!!"

Yeah, Ray Bourque nearly was a somewhat richer man's Park before he finally won it with Colorado.

 

[Sergei Shirokov]

I wonder how long these not-so-subtle digs at Bouchard are gonna continue.

He's making a strong case that he's been the best player on the Oilers four rounds into the playoffs and you are debating whether he or Carter Verhaeghe even belongs in the top 10?

I'm not even gonna compare Bouchard and Forsling (though you're clearly fishing for a response on that), but the fact you have him and Ekholm comfortably in over Bouch is ridiculous. Hyman is not better than Bouch either.

I'm tempted to report this post for how tiring it is to still read this kind of crap from Canucks fans in every single Oilers thread. You lost, get over it.

Report me for an opinion on hockey players? Lol, thats so soft. Go to HF Oil if your brought to tears by a lack of Bouchard butt-kissing. 6-10 are very close, could make a case they are interchangeable.

Ekholm is a better overall defenseman than Bouchard imo, Forsling has been rock-solid for the Panthers all playoffs, Carter Verhaeghe is a 40 goal scorer & PPG in the playoffs, Bobrovsky is a Vezina finalist, Hyman is leading the playoffs in goals. Its the SCF there are alot of good players, sorry your favourite isn't higher on my list - atleast respond with your own rather than crying.

 

[Fishy McScales]

Report me for an opinion on hockey players? Lol, thats so soft. Go to HF Oil if your brought to tears by a lack of Bouchard butt-kissing. 6-10 are very close, could make a case they are interchangeable.

Ekholm is a better overall defenseman than Bouchard imo, Forsling has been rock-solid for the Panthers all playoffs, Carter Verhaeghe is a 40 goal scorer & PPG in the playoffs, Bobrovsky is a Vezina finalist, Hyman is leading the playoffs in goals. Its the SCF there are alot of good players, sorry your favourite isn't higher on my list - atleast respond with your own rather than crying.

You know what I'm gonna do?

Put you on ignore.

 

[Sergei Shirokov]

You know what I'm gonna do?

Put you on ignore.

Perfect, your best post yet, thank you.

 

[JEM28]

Doesn't Kane have a hernia issue? Looked pretty ginger before leaving game 6

Not sure but he did look banged up.